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Gothic, or Blackletter evolved during the Middle Ages, first appearing in
the 12th century. It was based on the Carolingian miniscule with sharp angles
replacing the curves. Letters became pointed instead of round.
This writing was a model for early printing. Until then, the scribes were
hired to letter books but by 1450 Johann Gutenburg had printed the Bible on
his press in Mainz, Germany. Printing soon spread all over the world.
Increased production of books led to a shortage of vellum and parchment thereby increasing its cost. Calligraphers had to devise ways to compact writing. For this reason, Gothic had little space between the lines, letters were tightly packed and even the "o" had corners. To further compress the letter space, ascenders and descenders were short and letters sometimes shared a common stem.
Often, numerous contractions and abbreviations made Gothic difficult to read. Later variations of Blackletter included Fraktur, Batarde and Gothicized Italic.
Today, Gothic or Blackletter works best with narrow blocks of writing since it is such a powerful hand. A headline or title are good examples of Gothic. Used in religious works or traditional art, it is often used on formal invitations, certificates, diplomas or awards
Helen Small.